Reflections from Abroad 2017 - 18 Contents
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Reflections From Abroad 2017 - 18 Contents 4 Message from the Dean 6 About Us New Name. New Logo. Same Objectives. 8 The 411 10 The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net 12 Every sha-la-la-la-la: Pop music, travel, and there’s no place like Nostos As Ernest Hemingway wrote, “It is good to have an end to journey 14 Kicking my way to confidence toward, but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” 15 London called and I still haven’t hung up Study abroad is about new experiences, new insight, and new 16 Interview with Father Michael Perry connections to people and places. It offers college students the 19 A Full Year Abroad opportunity to explore intellectual, personal, and professional 20 In The Eyes of Marist Abroad Students – Photo Contest interests in another culture and context. It’s a chance to re-examine 22 Photo Contest Runners-Up yourself and gain a clearer view of the horizon. 24 Interview with Carol Toufali 26 Marist Paris: Mod’Spe On July 1st, Marist International changed its name and logo to Marist Abroad. 28 Introducing the Freshman Dublin Experience (FDE) 30 Asia Study Abroad Program (ASAP) So why the change? 32 Culture Shock Opened My Mind 33 The Best View in Auckland Abroad is the core of what we do. Journeys abroad expand what 34 FFE Mentors Program is possible. We return to familiar shores as different people, with 35 Three semesters abroad – why not? nuance, independence, and resilience. 36 Venice Biennale 2017 The new logo incorporates a visual punctuation of the “O” in 38 Where in the World are Marist Students? “Abroad,” representing the world around us. It reminds us of all that is out there for us to see, enjoy, and experience as we evolve along the journey. 2 3 “Sometimes, that special sense of place can be Education Abroad and a Sense of Place right where you are.” By Dr. John E. Peters Dean of International Programs “I don’t think we’ll need one anytime soon,” the gentleman told my project. In the mysterious way development while abroad are students who submitted eye-grabbing coincidences work, I had just been countless. They become wistful. Their photos. This year’s Globetrotter also father, firmly planting his coffee mug on the counter at Sammy’s Café, reviewing a colleague’s syllabus that faces and tones change when they features interviews with Father Michael the local Chinese restaurant. My dad countered, “Everything changes, included the sense-of-place theme. describe friendships so close that Perry, Marist ’65, our first study abroad and eventually our new four-way stop is going to graduate from stop Coincidence, yes, but surprise, no. good-byes were tear-clouded. They student, and Carol Toufali, Marist signs to a stoplight.” It was the late 1970s, and in my small hometown Academics, authors, poets, and speak lyrically about landscapes Abroad’s outgoing senior coordinator. songwriters from a range of disciplines permanently etched into their minds of Jackson, California (population 1,500), discussion and debate about talk about the idea of a sense of and cultures so deeply woven into Father Perry spent a year at the Institut the new four-way stop could be heard not only at Sammy’s lunch place and explore why some places their psyches, they become part Catholique de Paris, and his energy counter but also on the front page of the local paper. hold particularly special meaning for The answer, of course, is that life of those places. and enthusiasm for Marist and his time individuals and communities. takes us on myriad journeys, and we studying abroad shine through. Marist I was fortunate to grow up at a time can develop a deep attachment to Students have taken me to meet their Abroad’s Senior Coordinator Carol and place when kids were free to While a sense of place may start with many places during a lifetime. While host families in Spain, France, and Toufali closed her office door for the roam the county streets; make their a specific environment, location, or my early days in Jackson represent Italy, where their homestay parents last time in June 2017 after nearly a own, mostly innocent, fun; enjoy time a single individual, it goes deeper. a strong, and in a sense, the most tell me that their student guests quarter of a century at Marist. The joke with family; and learn with excellent It emerges from a coalescence singular experience of my youth that have not only become part of their in the office was that her last day was teachers in a great public school of natural, cultural, and social I would never trade, students today family but also valued members of the only one in our collective memories system. In grade school I just assumed phenomena, but it is also visceral, have wide-ranging opportunities to the local community. that Carol actually left the office on that The Andy Griffith Show’s Mayberry something you feel with both head plug into communities across the world time at 5:00 p.m. Her professionalism was based on my hometown (even and heart, something almost tangible. thanks to globalization, the internet, Students studying in Tanzania, Samoa, as well as her friendship will be though Mayberry did have a stoplight). Such a place helps us understand who and greater mobility. The challenge and Senegal recount in satisfying missed, though we hope she will make we are and informs how we see and is to allow ourselves to immerse and detail how they were able to immerse it back to Marist in the years to come, That day at Sammy’s, I was only half interact with the world. It offers us joy connect wherever we are, at home or themselves in their research while possibly as part of Alumni Weekend! Waiting to welcome dozens of new students listening to my dad’s conversation, in the moment and often for years to otherwise, and to find, build, and enjoy also forging strong friendships in arriving in Florence for their freshman year preferring instead to read my come, even when it may no longer be community there. areas way off the beaten paths from In the pages that follow, I believe Spiderman comic book, sip at a part of our daily lives. their lives at home. And they don’t shy you will find that in their journeys, our Top row from left: Amelie Moen, BA, studio art mouth-burning hot chocolate, and Sometimes, that special sense of away from revealing tough moments contributors have indeed found and and art history student, Marist Italy; Vanessa occasionally glance out the window to In my daughter’s video, she traces place can be right where you are. that evolved into stories they will tell connected with people and places Nichol-Peters, Director, Marist Italy; Daniela see if anyone I knew was passing by. moments that have special meaning “International” and intercultural for a lifetime – losing a passport and that have enriched their lives. Years Filio Flores, BS, conservation and art history student, Marist Italy; Genesis Cortez, BA, studio In those years, my dad worked at the for her, focusing on family, friends, opportunities abound for students being temporarily stuck in the midst of from now they will still have instant art and art history student, Marist Italy; Eve local Safeway grocery, and my mom music, sports, and her interactions with at Marist even if they do not study travel through Eastern Europe or Asia; emotional access to that palpable Walsh, undeclared, Marist Italy; Elisa Checcacci, owned an antique shop called Jackson people in different environments and abroad. The opportunity, though, to struggling to follow professors’ lectures sense of place even if, metaphorically Student Services Coordinator, Marist Italy. Antiques. I haven’t lived in Jackson landscapes. Prominently featured are have another part of the world as in another language and being worried speaking, a traffic light has been for more than half of my life, yet many her early childhood years in Zimbabwe your classroom, especially when the about failing classes; or feeling added to the landscape! Bottom row from left: Julianna Inglese, BFA, people remark that the majority of my and South Africa; time spent in New experience is well facilitated with more momentarily homesick during a holiday interior design and art history student, Marist “stories” come from my childhood, York, Florida, and California; and her than a nod given to reflection before, that holds strong family traditions. As always, we thank our students and Italy; Dr. John Peters, Dean of International from Jackson. teenage years in Europe. Some people during, and after the travel, is a gift. their families, Marist faculty and staff, Programs and Associate Professor of in the video I know, and many I do Approximately half of Marist students You can read the thoughts of students, and our affiliates for their support Economics, Marist College. Fast forward to this year. My daughter, not. The first time I watched “Sense of study abroad at least once during their faculty, and staff in this year’s and help in making our international a high school senior in Florence, Place,” I wondered how a short sense- undergraduate years. Globetrotter: Reflections from Abroad, programs thrive. We hope to see you recently sent me a link to a wonderfully of-place video could contain, well, so and see the people and places that soon – in the United States or abroad! personal YouTube video, “Sense of many places. Their stories of lives transformed by captivated students through the lenses Place,” she had made for a school academic, personal, and professional of our photo contest winners and other 4 5 About Marist Abroad promotes international engagement and academic, personal, Marist Italy and professional development through rigorous reflective study abroad, Marist Italy offers unique and engaging bachelor’s, master’s, Us freshman, and summer programs in Florence, the Renaissance city.